A secret CIA assessment has found that Russia sought to tip last month's US presidential election in Donald Trump's favor, The Washington Post reported Friday, a conclusion that drew an extraordinary rebuke from the president-elect's camp. "These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction," Trump's transition team said, launching a broadside against the spy agency. "The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With less than hour to spare, the Senate late Friday backed legislation averting a government shutdown as coal-state Democrats retreated on long-term health care benefits for retired miners but promised a renewed fight for the working class next year.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — At least 43,000 people have been displaced by the powerful earthquake that hit Indonesia's Aceh province, authorities said Saturday, as the government and aid agencies pooled efforts to meet the basic survival needs of shaken communities.

HONOLULU (AP) — A group of Hawaii musicians and a Hawaiian Airlines flight attendant provided special inflight entertainment to a Pearl Harbor survivor flying home from a ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of the attack.

Donald Trump plunged his quest for America's next top diplomat back into the spotlight by confirming that one frontrunner, outspoken former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, will not join his cabinet. Observers in the United States and around the world have been on tenterhooks over who the incoming Republican will pick as they wait to see whether Trump will make good on threats to rip up treaties and free trade agreements. With the decision expected next week, the president-elect announced Friday that Giuliani had removed his name from contention as far back as November 29.

LeBron James's 27 points in the Cleveland Cavaliers' 114-84 blowout of the Miami Heat moved the Cavs superstar into ninth place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Kyrie Irving scored 23 points as Cleveland notched their third straight victory and their second in a row by 30 points. The Heat, hit by Dwyane Wade's departure in free agency and a spate of injuries, are floundering.

OPEC will seek on Saturday to persuade other oil producers to lower production as part of a newly struck global pact to stem a crude glut and lift painfully low prices. The Vienna meeting, which includes major producer Russia, aims to nail down details on implementing the accord reached late last month. "We do not expect the outcome of this meeting to play a significant role in rebalancing the oil market," Vienna-based analyst group JBC Energy said Friday.

Italy's Monte dei Paschi di Siena saw its stock tumble more than 12 percent on Friday over reports the ECB had denied it more time to raise the cash it needs to avoid being wound down. The world's oldest bank had on Wednesday asked the European Central Bank for two more weeks to find the funds, saying political instability created by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's resignation had left investors reluctant to commit funds. A financial source told AFP the Italian bank had not yet received any official communication on the matter from the ECB.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has ordered intelligence officials to conduct a broad review of election-season cyberattacks, including the email hacks that rattled the presidential campaign and raised fresh concerns about Russia's meddling in U.S. elections, the White House said Friday.

The CIA has concluded that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help President-elect Donald Trump win the White House, and not just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, the Washington Post reported on Friday. Citing U.S. officials briefed on the matter, the Post said intelligence agencies had identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and others, including the chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, to WikiLeaks. The officials described the individuals as people known to the intelligence community who were part of a wider Russian operation to boost Trump and reduce Clinton's chances of winning the election.

Syrian warplanes again pounded Aleppo's last rebel-held districts, as the United States said American and Russian officials would meet on Saturday in a bid to save the city from "complete" destruction. With the fighting resuming after a brief respite, the UN General Assembly demanded an immediate ceasefire and urgent aid deliveries, in a resolution adopted by a strong majority. US officials will meet Saturday with their Russian counterparts in Geneva to try to stop Aleppo "being absolutely, completely destroyed", US Secretary of State John Kerry said.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Russell Westbrook had his seventh consecutive triple-double Friday night in the Oklahoma City Thunder's game against the Houston Rockets, the longest streak since Michael Jordan had seven straight in 1989.

Gambia's leader of some 22 years Yahya Jammeh announced late Friday he would no longer accept defeat in recent elections, plunging the West African country into turmoil with a demand for fresh polls. Investigations into the December 1 vote have revealed a string of "unacceptable errors" on the part of electoral authorities, Jammeh said in a speech broadcast on state television, adding that he would no longer concede to opponent Adama Barrow. "In the same way that I accepted the results faithfully believing that the Independent Electoral Commission was independent and honest and reliable, I hereby reject the results in totality," he said.

Exxon Mobil Corp Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson emerged on Friday as President-elect Donald Trump's leading candidate for U.S. secretary of state, a senior transition official said. Trump appears to be in the final days of deliberations over his top diplomat with an announcement possible next week. Tillerson's favored status was revealed as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani formally withdrew from consideration for secretary of state.

New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was fined $12,154 by the NFL on Friday for verbal abuse and excessive profanity directed toward an official. The fine is at least the fifth of the season for the controversial player, who reportedly confronted an official on the field after the Giants' 24-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday. Beckham was irked in the first quarter after being called for offensive pass interference and sharply criticized officiating after the game.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said on Friday he had removed his name from consideration for a position in Donald Trump's new administration as the president-elect narrows the field of people he is considering for secretary of state. Giuliani's withdrawal from consideration came after Trump made clear that he was broadening his search for a secretary of state beyond the four finalists transition aides had identified: Giuliani, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former CIA head David Petraeus and Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee.

By Emma Farge DAKAR (Reuters) - Gambian President Yahya Jammeh said on Friday he rejects the outcome of last week's election that he lost to opposition leader Adama Barrow and called for fresh elections. The announcement made on state television throws the future of the West African country into doubt after the unexpected election result ended Jammeh's 22-year rule and was widely seen as a moment of democratic hope. Jammeh had conceded defeat on state TV last week, prompting wild celebrations over the defeat of a government that human rights groups accused of detaining, torturing and killing opponents during the president's rule.

By Steve Holland GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Reuters) - Michigan Republican Party Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel has emerged as President-elect Donald Trump's favorite to head the party, appearing on Friday at a rally attended by him as part of his "thank you" tour. The Republican National Committee will soon have a vacancy at the top of the party as current chairman Reince Priebus becomes White House chief of staff when Trump takes office on Jan. 20. While Trump did not signal his support for McDaniel at the rally, two party officials said he is pushing for her.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the heat of the presidential campaign, Donald Trump accused primary rival Ted Cruz of being controlled by Goldman Sachs because his wife, Heidi, previously worked for the Wall Street giant. He slammed Hillary Clinton for receiving speaking fees from the bank.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani formally withdrew from consideration for a post in President-elect Donald Trump's administration Friday, putting an end to his ill-fated bid to lead the State Department. Trump is now seriously considering Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson for the post.

President Barack Obama responded to appeals from Alaska Native villages and gave them more of a say in the federal management of marine resources of the Bering Sea. Obama signed an executive order Friday ...

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday that his government and the majority of Canada's provinces had come to an agreement on a national carbon pricing plan. Trudeau has been working on a national ...

(Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump said on Friday he would name Andrew Liveris, chairman and chief executive of Dow Chemical Co, to head the Manufacturing Council, a private sector group that advises the U.S. secretary of commerce.

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Gambia's ruler of more than 22 years announced late Friday that he no longer accepts defeat in the country's presidential election, reversing course a week after he conceded to his rival.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Appearing jovial and relaxed, Donald Trump plunged back into election politics Friday, a full month after he won the presidency, thanking Michigan voters and prodding Louisiana Republicans to turn out for Saturday's Senate runoff election.

A day after South Korean lawmakers successfully impeached scandal-hit President Park Geun-Hye, hundreds of thousands of people were expected to take to the streets of Seoul on Saturday for a scheduled protest turned celebration. For the seventh straight week, the capital braced for one of the huge candle-lit rallies that have become the signature of a mass movement aimed at removing the deeply unpopular Park from office. Although the national assembly voted to strip Park of her executive powers on Friday, activists say they intend to keep up the pressure with the impeachment still requiring final approval from the Constitutional Court -- a process that could take months.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A small airplane ferrying a father and his two teenage children to Anchorage presumably plunged into an expansive Alaska lake shortly after taking off from a nearby rural community, officials said Friday.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Large crowds were expected to gather in South Korea's capital on Saturday to celebrate the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye over an explosive corruption scandal that saw millions protest in previous weeks.

After the South Korean parliament's impeachment of President Park Geun-Hye, the spotlight now shifts to the nine judges of the Constitutional Court who could yet slam the door on those seeking to remove her from office. The lawmakers' vote on Friday suspended Park's sweeping executive powers, but it requires final approval by a two-thirds majority of the court -- a lengthy and uncertain process that could take up to six months.

(This story published on Dec. 8 corrects paragraph 3 and 27 to remove the "neighbor" reference as Danielle Boudreaux was not a neighbor) By Heather Somerville, Kristina Cooke and Dan Levine (Reuters) - In the two years leading up to the fire at an Oakland, California warehouse that killed 36 people at a dance party late last week, city officials had entered the building on numerous occasions and had multiple opportunities to see that residents were illegally living there in hazardous conditions. The Oakland Police Department received dozens of complaints about the warehouse, and went inside at least half a dozen times, according to police reports and accounts from former tenants and visitors. A former friend and tenant also say city fire officials were in the building at least twice.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump shut down some of his companies in the days after the election, including four that appeared connected to a possible Saudi Arabia business venture, according to corporate registrations in Delaware.

The United States on Friday condemned a statement from Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh rejecting the result of a Dec. 1 election that spelled the end of his 22-year rule. Jammeh had initially accepted the result and called his opponent Adama Barrow to concede defeat on state television. "This action is a reprehensible and unacceptable breach of faith with the people of The Gambia and an egregious attempt to undermine a credible election process and remain in power illegitimately," said Mark Toner, deputy spokesman at the U.S. Department of State.